I don't smoke marijuana now, I did many many years ago. I guess I outgrew it. Now I simply dont have an interest.
That being said... I think the penalties for its use are too severe. I think it should be taxed and controlled in the same way as alcohol or cigarettes are.
A guy I went to school with got caught when he was 19 and it was not marijuana that ruined his life, it was the years he spent in prison because of it.
"In your world is everyone who smokes marijuana an abuser? Can they possibly be simply a user instead?"
In my world, your world, the world where you live in which smoking marijuana is illegal... it's an abuse.
As for your friend, blaming prison is just a convenient excuse to pass the blame. He broke the law, he went to prison, what he does with his life after that is his own responsibility.
I guess that is one word dopers don't understand... responsibility.
Fortunately, America is a free country, so you can advocate that view to your heart's content. You can speak, you can advertise, you can lobby, you can buy ads, you can fund candidates.
When you elect 218 Members of the House (290 without the President), and 51 Senators (67 without the President) who agree with you, you can change the law.
Don't hold your breath.
Then he was more than a "user".